


Indignity of Reaction

by cancerthecrabbo



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Big Happy Family, Everyone is tired of Faraday's shit, Faraday is a little shit, Faraday is tired, Hunting, Inspired by Most Dangerous Game, It's not really Faraday's fault this time, M/M, Minor Character Death, Suspense, Team as Family, They have potty mouths, Vasquez is worried, Violence, a little dark!Faraday, cursing, he's just angry, hunger, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9418100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cancerthecrabbo/pseuds/cancerthecrabbo
Summary: Inspired by Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game." Faraday gets into a bit of trouble, but honestly he didn't start it. The Seven were hunting down a man named Dew that was hunting some new weird animal. They went to investigate the man and somehow, Faraday is now getting hunted down like an animal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own "The Most Dangerous Game". Title from Crying Lightning by Arctic Monkeys.

Faraday awoke slowly. Nothing new, not with the amount of alcohol consumes every day, or the amount of men he angers for fun. The world rocked side to side and the smell of salt stuck in his nose. His head throbs horribly but it feels different than hangover pain. He knows the difference by now, of course. His leg is aching; the pain is snug, deep in his thigh. He blows a breath through the nose and rolls onto his side. Wood digs into his good hip and temple mercilessly. The pain is enough to wake him up fully. He sits up angrily, if one can accomplish such an act angrily.

"Goddamnit." Faraday says, low and genuine. Blood covers the side of his face and the room he's in stays blurry longer than usual but he can easily see Chisholm's cocked eyebrow and smirk. Faraday sends a stale glare at him and rubs the dried blood from the corner of his eye. The rest of the Seven are awake already. None of the others had been knocked out, but only because they hadn't been abhorrently annoying to their captors.

"Por fin…" Vasquez mutters.

* * *

 

After the Rose Creek affair, the Seven had decided to stay together as some sort of cobbled-together vigilante group. They rode through the country finding new evil to defeat – not for the sake of the people…they had reputation to maintain, but in reality they're all big softies – and booze to drink. They were paid with gratitude and coins and adventure, something all of them appreciated.

Despite the outstanding odds, Faraday, Billy, Goody, and Horne had survived. With matching raging fevers and unbearable pain, they'd pushed through the worst of with the support of the relatively unscathed Seven. The doctor had been amazing at their survival, seeing as it pretty much pushed the laws of natural and all. They all had new scars but were left as good as new – except for Faraday. His luck had to have limits, after all, or else the rest of them would've wondered if he were fully human. So, he was left with a bum leg that twinged all day long. It took a while to get used to but he was still snappy and feral enough to make anyone nervous to duel it out with him.

So, a handful of weeks later and they were riding off into the goddamn sunset like the cowboys they are.

* * *

Recently there had been whispers of a man named Dew. Rumor had it that he was a bored man, so bored that he had sought out the "most dangerous game" and hunted it for shits and giggles. No one knew exactly what he hunted and anyone curious enough to find out was never seen again. It seemed as if Dew was straight from a kid's ghost story and none of the bounty hunters wanted to go after a fairy tale villain. Chisholm suspected that some of them were even scared of the mystery man. This, of course, made a few select members of the Seven _very_ excited to seek him out.

So they made some noise in the towns with the most useful information until they reached a sea-side town where several very large men appeared and kindly asked the Seven to come with them. No location was given away, even when Billy "insisted". They obliged only when told that the men work for Dew. Things had been going smoothly even though there was the threat of a battle at any second. Until the men got sick of Faraday's mindless shatter and card tricks that involved making an ass of them. He gave one of the men, the most stupid-looking one, a passive aggressive pat on the cheek after he'd failed to find the jack yet again. That's when the man decided enough was enough and bashed Josh over the head with the butt of his rifle. He had gone down with a soft 'thump' and a very loud scuffle full of Spanish swears that ended with the idiot man getting a few new holes in him. The remaining henchmen agreed not to touch them. They even managed to look adequately annoyed at their dead colleague.

In total the little trip only took half an hour. They arrived at the docks and approached a fairly large ship. None of the seven men had ever been in a ship, much less learned how to steer one. This was the only reason every man on the ship wasn't dead within five minutes. The horses were left with man they suspected was also working for Dew.

On the ship, they were stuffed into cages.

* * *

Faraday jerked away from Horne's touch but when he looks up at the man and sees him about ready to growl, he allows the resident medic to inspect his head.

"All in order up there, doc?" He asks impatiently.

Horne hums thoughtfully. "As much as it can be for a crazy fool like you." He pats Faraday's hair, only once before the younger man tried to kick him, to counteract his words. Faraday was too dizzy to bat his hand away and instead opts to stretch. He arches his back and his spine pops wonderfully and he's about to stand in the tiny space of the cage when Vasquez grabs his hand.

"I'm fine."

"I can think of many times you've said those words guerito," Vasquez says, "And also been bleeding. Sientate." Red snorts from his spot in the corner.

"Alright, alright." Chisholm beckons them with his smooth voice. "We're going to be _careful_. We're going to tryto find the missing men _not_ get shot." His eyes do not slide over to Faraday. They pin him down like a mother staring down her disobedient child. It makes Goody and Horne chuckle. Just as he was going to speak over Faraday's whines, he was interrupted by the door opening and a man walking through with an odd spring in his step.

His features were striking but not exactly handsome. His nose was line, his were thin, and his cheekbones were frighteningly sharp. He was dressed in an impeccable suit – a three-piece that could be called grey or blue and both would be right. His white silk shirt was spotless and without guns on his hips, he looked almost naked.

"Why, hello. I heard you boys were stirrin' up trouble in town," Dew spoke deliberately, the very picture of confidence.

Goody, leaning against a wall, matched the man's sure energy and responded, "We were just curious. Heard some rumors about an interesting man."

"Seems to me like you're the interestin' ones," he chuckled, "You're quite…diverse." Red, Vasquez, and Billy tensed. Goody's facer lost some of its fake politeness and he shifted his weight closer to Billy. Chisholm stayed calm and collected.

In fact, confidence oozed out of him as he spoke. "You don't mind if we see your island, do you, Dew?" He grinned, toothy.

The man's smile never once reached his eyes. "Why of course I don't. Please, call me Franklin."

"Franky, you got any booze?" Faraday grinned up at him.

"Goddammit," muttered Vasquez. Red smoothly reached over and pinched Josh's hand.

* * *

The air was tense in their cozy little cage. It was fun to watch his friends try to push the other man over the brink and vice versa, but Faraday was nursing a spectacular headache. He didn't care much for a confrontation right now and he tuned out the incredibly passive aggressive words of the men easily. Neither side was very easy to tick off, anyway; Dew was still an enigma. They didn't know which buttons to push.

Soon, Dew excused himself. Billy and Faraday took the first shift, Horne told the former to keep Josh awake lest he slip into a coma because of his mild concussion. The rest of them settled down to doze.

* * *

It turned out that there was only enough time on the ride for one shift so instead of rest, Billy and Faraday got to play cards. The two didn't min all that much, honestly. Vasquez and Goody on the other hand had some choice words, but kept it short.

Dew's men escorted the off the ship and onto the island. The sand looked untouched by humans and the soil was a rich brown. There were trees everywhere on the island that towered over them, their leaves creating a solid layer of foliage between them and the sky. There were little clearings and the occasional stream as they strolled through the forest toward wherever Dew lived. On the way there, not a single bird or squirrel scuttled through the branches. The only sound around them was the rustling of salty wind through the trees.

Faraday struggled along with Vasquez and Red's help. He didn't particularly want their help but it was better than falling on his face because his leg throbbed and he foot caught on every goddamn root on the path. By the time they passed the tree line his leg was stiff and screaming at him to sit down. The sight of the castle made him want to sit down just as much, because he needed at least 3 hours of sleep to deal with that sort of thing. He was getting tired of Dew's shit and this was almost enough to make him angry. He sighed tiredly and swung his head around to shoot a look at the burly men behind him. Vasquez nudged him along before he could get himself knocked out again.

"Alright boys," says Dew, "Don't go breakin' anything, eh?" He laughed humorlessly.

"No voy a prometer _nada_ ," Vasquez said. Faraday grinned over at him, understanding what he said after hanging around the man almost 24/7.

They were ushered into a room in the turret of the castle. There was a table with a chair and a single bed, and one small window. The view showed off a cliff that spilled into the sea and a forest that blanketed the entire island.

"So, boys, what is it that you wanted to ask me?" Dew held his hands behind his back.

Chisholm dropped the polite act. "Where are the men, Dew?"

"I have no idea what you're talkin' about." Dew remained infuriatingly insincere.

"22 men have gone missing after they came to investigate the very first man that you took. Where are they? Did you kill them?" His voice was hard, all business. Everyone's hands gravitated toward their guns.

"You see boys, I'm a hunter. I've been all over the world hunting the most dangerous animals out there. Tigers, wolves, panthers. And yet, after all that, I find myself bored surrounded by my trophies. But recently I discovered the most dangerous game." Dew's voice carried throughout the room and they watched as his smile grew sharp, the glint in his eye becoming maniacal. "You see, animals that can reason are not dangerous. Beasts with claws cannot reason. But I have found the cruelest, most dangerous beast that can reason, too. Can you guess?"

Goody's expression was one of disgust. "You can't mean—"

"Yes, Mr. Robicheaux, yes! _Man_ is the most dangerous game!" He gestured to the Seven.

"You hunt living humans. For fun." Vasquez said.

"I'm glad you understand, my friends. Especially now that I have no one to hunt…I'll just have to choose one of you."

Silence rang out. Anger and disbelief showed on their faces.

"What the fuck?" Faraday's voice broke through the stillness. "Hell no, old man! We ain't a herd of sheep for you to hunt. Honestly, are you crazy?" He would have gone on if Vasquez hadn't slapped a hand over his mouth.

"I think I'll start with you first, Joshua Faraday. I've heard stories of your miraculous recovery from death. Maybe you'll prove to be interesting. The hunt will begin at noon exactly and end in three day's time. If you survive, I'll let you boys go. If I manage to catch you, I will pick every single one of you off until your heads hand above my fireplace." Dew's composure almost broke by the end of his declaration. He turned sharply and left the room without a single glance behind him.

* * *

"Well," Chisholm said after a moment, "You didn't get shot but somehow managed worse."

"Guero, you idiot!" Vasquez paced around the room.

Horne squinted at the younger man and asked, "You do realize that your brain is still scrambled? Maybe that's why you're even more foolish today than usual. Thankfully, the worst has passed so you _can_ rest."

Faraday shrugged under the assault. "Well there's nothing we can do now, so why cry over it? I'll just get some rest before noon and lay low for three days." He made Vasquez pinch the bridge of his nose.

"He's killed 23 men in 3 weeks!" His partner said.

"I'll just have to break his streak then." Faraday sat himself down on the bed and exhaled as quietly as possible. With that said, the rest of the group sat down around the room and rest as well. Vasquez sat down on the bed next to him and rubbed his knee.

"Lay down, guerito. I'll wake you at 11." After the full day that he had, Faraday couldn't resist. The sheets were clean, so he didn't mind obeying his boyfriend. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

* * *

"Up and at 'em, Faraday." Chisholm's voice rouses him. He'd never been a very heavy sleeper and his nerves were still electrified after being told he'd be hunted in a couple hours. He sits up quickly, fingers reaching for his guns before he remembered all of their weapons were taken when he hears footsteps on the other side of the door. Vasquez is glaring at said door grimly.

Faraday's heart beat quicker when the knob turned and revealed Dew.

"Hello boys. It's time for the hunt." The man grinned at Faraday as if he was already caught.

Faraday was escorted out of the room without a chance to say goodbye. He was lead to the entrance of the castle. On the way there he was monitored too closely to snag anything lest he be punished in some unsavory way. Dew stopped him at the door.

"You will have three days exactly when the gun sounds. I will retreat to my home every night when the sun comes down. If you manage to evade me, you and your friends will be let loose." He pushed Faraday's guns into his arms. "The entire island is the hunting ground, even the castle if you are so inclined. Breaching the boundaries will not have consequences, but then again I don't need to punish you if you die by the sea's hand." With a smile, he pushed Faraday out of the door and finished his instructions, "You have 5 minutes to get as far away as possible. Scurry along!"

The door shut behind Faraday with a slam. What a dramatic old man.

* * *

Faraday did not flinch when the gun went off in what must have been 5 minutes. He ventured into what he could only guess was the thickest part of the forest, which was a good idea but hard to carry out. His limp wasn't so bad after some rest but it still made it hard to navigate the root-infested ground. The soil under his shoes was springy and the foliage provided shade his entire journey.

Paranoia still gnawed at him. Every rustle of the leaves made him think that Dew was behind him. He'd never been the stealthiest and even less so that he leg wouldn't cooperate as he wished it would. He no doubt left tracks that even the worst hunter could follow, but he had to get as far away from Dew as possible.

Faraday's half-assed plan was to hide away somewhere for the three days. Hopefully some birds would appear some time but it seemed as if there was nothing else on this island except for trees and Dew. He wondered if Dew had hunted every single thing on the island, the thought made him shiver. It made sense, honestly. If Dew had been so bored as to hunt men he must have run out of game on his land. Said land was fairly large, too, so there must have been a huge amount of birds, or rabbits, anything!

He began to sweat despite the generous amount of shade. His leg caught on a root and sent him sprawling straight into a little stream, one of many on the island. He huffed and pulled himself up to his knees. He splashed some of the freezing water onto his face. Faraday hesitated for a good minute before taking a tentative sip of water and decided it didn't taste so bad. He didn't guzzle it down, however, because he had nothing to boil it with and didn't want to fall ill while he was being hunted by a mad man.

The tiny strips of daylight that got through the thick leaves had faded away a good while ago. Wandering the island had left him exhausted, especially after only getting about 3 hours of sleep. Sleep pulled at his eyes but he wouldn't- no, couldn't fall asleep yet. Looking up at the tree nearest to him, he nodded to himself and began to climb it. He'd sleep here for the night and hope to God that he could draw his guns faster than Dew.

* * *

Back at the castle, the rest of the Seven were restless.

Vasquez paced around the room over and over. His pacing was getting on everyone's nerves, but they didn't want to irk him at this moment. Billy and Goody could definitely sympathize and therefore would not discourage him from saving Joshua I-Get-Into-Trouble-For-Fun-And-Give-My-Boyfriend-An-Ulcer Faraday.

"We have to get out of here," Vasquez said. He'd stopped in front of the large window, his eye searching as if he could see Faraday from the turret.

Chisholm crossed his arms, looking thoughtful, and said, "Faraday can take care of himself. We have to plan."

"I _know_ he can take of himself. Ya se! But, Dew…es loco."

"Vasquez is right," Red said simply.

Horne hummed and began to speak, "No, I think—"

Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupted the argument. Dew opened the door and stepped into the room swiftly. He looked as impeccable as usual.

"Good evening, boys!" The same stupid grin was plastered on his face. "I hope you're not thinking of disrupting my dinner. If you escape, you'll be breaking the rules. I think that even you six can guess what that means. Mr. Faraday's leg will be the least of his worries. I might even have to punish him."

"That's outrageous. He hasn't done anything wrong," Horne said angrily. "You're crazy."

"It's a military tactic, dear Jack Horne," Dew said as if it was obvious, "The rest of the men suffer for the misbehavior of another. In this case, if you act out I'll have to cause Joshua a little pain. So _stay put_ or else." With that, he slammed the door behind him and left the men in the room to stew.

* * *

Faraday woke when the sun was rising. He could tell because it was faintly light out. He couldn't have slept more than 4 hours but his nerves were frayed and he knew he wouldn't be sleeping again anytime soon. Shifting on the branch he was stretched out on brought to attention the deep ache in his leg. He rubbed hard at it fruitlessly and gave up soon. His stomach growled loudly.

A salty wind made the leaves shake all around him. It prompted him to get out of the tree and haul ass.

Today he'd try to think of a plan, any plan that might get him slightly ahead of Dew. After all, the man was a skilled hunter. No matter how much Faraday hated the man, he couldn't deny it. He also couldn't deny that panic was gripping him and paranoia sat in his bones. He walked with his shoulders hunched and looked over his shoulder, to his right, left, and even up periodically. He cracked countless twigs as he stumbled through the trees but each time he did, he almost jumped. It grated on him, and he knew it wasn't good to be this tense 24/7 but he couldn't help it. He was being hunted like an animal by another human being. That was bound to get to any man.

The feeling of someone watching him grew stronger. He walked faster despite how much it hurt and clicked the safety off of his Ethel and Maria. Without them, he knew he'd be out of his mind. Even if he had a gun, they were so familiar to him that they provided comfort. It occurred to him that a pair of guns helping to calm him down was probably very strange.

He was deep in his thoughts when he heard a rustle that was distinctly different from the leaves above it. It came from behind him, making him turn sharply.

There was a figure in the darkness, shrouded by shadows. But he knew who it was. Dew.

Faraday's heart simultaneously leapt into his throat and down into his stomach at the same time. Blood rushed in his ears and he could feel his pulse in his chest. He wondered, in the back of his mind, if Dew could hear his heart beating almost out of his chest. And then he aimed his gun and shot four times, hoping that his first one grazed the man. The other three landed in the bark behind him. _Damn,_ he thought. Dew was quick.

(Up in the turret, Vasquez almost knocked down the door when he heard the gun shots. His Faraday was so close, but so far. The only thing keeping him from wreaking havoc was Billy's hand on his shoulder as he shook his head.)

Josh backed away as quickly as possible while keeping his gun trained on where he thought Dew was hiding. Fortunately, his shot must have drawn blood because after standing there for a good while, he went over to see that Dew was gone. Unfortunately, the day was only half way through. The man would have enough time to patch himself up and come back for more.

That thought had him moving as quickly as he could with a mounting headache and gnawing hunger in his belly. He tripped at least twice on the way to…well, he didn't know. He hoped it was just farther away from Dew.

He suffered through the day slowly, ever so slowly. He was frustrated and tired and his heart wouldn't calm down. He was hungry and angry, but there was nothing to eat. Just clear streams to drink from. Despite his growing exhaustion, Faraday forced himself to walk farther and farther.

He was lost in his thoughts again when the ground under him was suddenly gone and replaced with ice-cold water. It was deep enough to go to his knees but he stumbled and splashed into it. The water soaked his clothes and wet his hair, and filled his shoes. He lurched out of the stream he hadn't noticed. It was significantly larger than any of the other he'd come across. Faraday shivered violently, and wrapped his arms around himself, looking up to the sky. There was a part in the foliage that showed him the stars were coming out. He breathed a sigh of relief and sat heavily by the stream. Dew would be in his stupid castle by now so he didn't have to worry about the smoke a fire would make.

Soon he had set up his shirt, vest, and socks were drying by the fire. He kept his pants on but lay down as close to the fire as possible so that they'd be able to dry a little bit. The wind was weak here, making him think that he was probably in the center of the island. His teeth still chattered and he was unbearably cold. Last night had been fine with his clothes on, and today the exercise and excited should've been enough but that stream was _freezing_. And on a dry island like this, the temperature dropped at night. Faraday curled up a little and wrapped his arms around his naked torso but stayed cold and restless throughout the night.

* * *

The rest of the Seven let out a collective sigh of relief when Red spotted spoke in the distance. It wasn't enough to get Vasquez to relax even a little, but it was enough to get him to sit down for a while. He tried to participate in the discussion and tried to help plan but his instincts screamed at him to just get to Faraday.

* * *

Faraday was glad to see that his clothes had dried fairly well over night. Of course, his fire had sputtered out sometime so they were still pretty cold, but he was okay with that. Well he wasn't really, but he couldn't do anything about it. The panic was swelling in his chest; his nerves were sparking with it. He didn't think he'd ever be able to relax again. He shrugged off the thought and focused on getting somewhere. He didn't know where, but he had to get there. He had to escape.

He felt like a wild animal at this point. His highest priority was to survive, but thankfully for his state of mind it was half to live and half because his success would ensure his family's safety. Before this, he had been hesitant to even think of the six men currently in a castle as his family. But, they had _stayed_ with him. Vasquez was always at his side, and he could joke around with Red and Billy. Respect was mutual between him and Chisholm, and for some reason he felt like he could tell Horne anything. Goody wasn't just his drinking buddy, he was a friend. They all were, and Vasquez was more. That's why he had to win.

The day is like the ones before, walk and walk until something happened, and then came noon. Faraday had been wandering around the island in a way that took him to the cliff he'd seen earlier from the room in the turret. He smelled the sea and the breeze made him shiver. His pants were still damp.

The muscles in his leg spasmed yet again. He gritted his teeth and shifted all of his weight onto his other leg. The pain was in its crescendo when a voice called his name. He turned slowly to see that Dew was pointing his gun at his face.

"Honestly," Dew said, "You held out quite a lot longer than I thought you would! Well done."

Faraday's world slowed down. He could see Dew's finger begin to close around the trigger. The waves crashed below him. He made the decision in a split second. If he didn't, he'd die. It was that simple. He only hoped he didn't in the process and anger the rest of the Seven.

He stepped off of the cliff and plunged into the water below him.

* * *

"Holy shit." Dew said. It was all he could say. He snorted before turning around and walking back to the castle. He wasn't disappointed, per say, but despite how dramatic that had been he had been hoping Faraday would die by his hand. Oh, well, he'd just have to savor the look on the other men's faces.

Aforementioned men were not happy. From their position in the turret they could see clearly what Faraday had done and were very upset. That was an understatement, actually, they were ready to kick down the door and slaughter Dew.

"Si ese idiota esta muerto lo _voy a matar._ Que estúpido!" Vasquez yelled. "We are getting out of here. Right now."

"Agreed." Billy said. It was unanimous this time. They were about to kick ass.

They knocked down the door and kicked the shit out the armed guards outside. Chisholm and Vasquez took the guns from the now-bleeding men. Yelling came from the stairs, but they took out every man that tried to get in their way.

Hell hath no fury like a worried family.

* * *

Meanwhile, Faraday was swimming like his life depended on it – because it did. The waves were unforgiving and pushed him back. It felt like an eternity before he practically washed up on the shore. He was met with a steep hill that had the castle sitting on it. A feral grin showed off his teeth as he climbed up the grassy slope.

He was soaking wet but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was making Franklin Dew suffer as much as humanly possible before he died. There was a red tint over his vision and yet at the same time it was tunneled. The hunger and fatigue was taking a toll on him and his leg was a throbbing mess at this point. He wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Faraday held his guns ready as he reached the entrance. He kicked open the door and pointed Ethel and Maria at...nothing. Dew wasn't here yet. He could hear fighting, though, and knew that the others had escaped the room and were kicking ass. His grin grew wider when he imagined Vasquez shooting the henchmen like he did the man that had shot Faraday in Rose Creek.

He sauntered into the large room and closed the door. If Faraday was going to be honest, he did like being dramatic at times. Now was the perfect opportunity. Thankfully, he only had to stand facing the door for a couple seconds when the door opened again and Dew stepped in. Their eyes met.

Faraday shot Dew's foot, and then another one in his thigh. It was immensely satisfying to see the blood drip down to the floor where Dew was kneeling now. He loved the way the man was writhing in pain. It almost made it worth how much his leg was hurting.

He spit out some salt water before speaking, "Fuck you, old man. My granny could outlast you." He shot him again the shoulder and then his kneecap. He dragged himself over to Dew despite the agony that was shooting through his leg. Faraday leaned down close to the man and whispered, "You're going to die here, Frank. No one is here to help you." He backed away and reveled in the fear in Dew's eyes.

"Faraday!" Vasquez's voice was like music to his ears. Faraday turned to see his family running toward him. Most of them had blood on their clothes, certainly someone else's.

"Took you long enough!" Goody teased.

"Oh, shut it." Faraday said weakly. Dew groaned particularly loudly behind him. He shot the man in the head without turning around. Chisholm cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Are you okay, guero?" Vasquez asked. Josh took a step toward him and instantly crumpled. Vasquez caught him before he could hit his head and lowered him down.

"I guess not." It was all he could say before passing out.

* * *

When Faraday awoke next, he was laying in blessedly soft sheets. His head felt stuffed full of cotton and when he opened his eyes, the room was blurry. His leg was no longer throbbing excruciatingly, but he was still hungry. There wasn't really pain, though, just vague discomfort.

"Guerito? You there?" Vasquez's voice is next to him. He turned his head slowly and grins up at him. Any concern on the other man's face disappeared. "There you are."

"Where was I before?" His tongue felt clumsy and he slurred his words.

"Delirious from fever like the damn fool you are." Horne's voice was coming from his other side. Faraday hummed at him. "Jumpin' into the ocean. Really, now." Someone snorted at the foot of his bed. Goody and Billy were standing there. Side by side as usual. Red was sitting on the table in the other corner of the room.

"Well, where am I right now?" Faraday went to sit up and found that he could barely move his leg, and all of his muscles were sore. Vasquez tsked at him.

"Possibly still delirious, but you're in a hospital so I guess that's okay." Chisholm was sitting in the chair he must have dragged from the table. "The people of the town were very grateful to us and tended to you for free."

"And Dew?" This made Vas frown. He even went as far as to feel his forehead.

"Are the doctors sure he didn't damage anything?" Vasquez asked Horne.

"Hey, I'm fine Vas. It's just a little fuzzy…oh, now I remember! Heh, I shot 'em." This startled a laugh out of them. The worry in the air dissipated fully now.

Faraday was going to be perfectly fine, if only a little sore, after a good meal. The cold water from the stream and the sea had gotten him sick but it wasn't serious. He'd made it through the worst of the fever in one night. The town was safe from Dew now, and the families who'd lost someone could at least mourn properly. The townspeople even rewarded them with money and allowed them to stay in some rooms for free. Their horses were safely grazing out in the field now. The Seven would leave the town in two day's time, enough for Faraday to recover.

So, Faraday kicked back and enjoyed the company of his family. He was no longer afraid of calling them that. And sure, he wouldn't be able to relax for a bit but the night was made bearable when Vasquez slipped into his bed and wrapped his arms around him. Everything was right with the world again, and nothing could take that away from him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it. I am very tired. I apologize for any mistakes. My planning for this story is really funny to read because it was like 12 AM when I wrote this.


End file.
